


To Catch a Cat

by cosmic_llin



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 22:17:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16146677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_llin/pseuds/cosmic_llin
Summary: Ada and Hecate go on a quest for a cat.





	To Catch a Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cassiopeiasara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiopeiasara/gifts).



> Happy Cass Appreciation Day! Thank you Cass for all your wonderful contributions to this fandom! <3
> 
> (This was meant to be domestic fluff but it swerved quite a long way off course...)

The Familiars Fair took place in early July. Cats, being the traditional choice, were there in great numbers, but there were also plenty of owls, frogs, and other more unusual creatures of magical affinity.  
  
Ada and Hecate went together each year. Coming on a weekend close to the end of term, it was the ideal time to relax a little and fortify themselves for the final stretch. Each year they booked a cosy hotel room, had fun choosing the required number of cats for the next year’s intake – Ada was proud to have an excellent instinct for cats – and then strolled arm in arm around the other stalls, idly chatting. Ada would always jokingly suggest switching the school to lizards or some other unsuitable animal, Hecate would pretend to be horrified, and they’d discuss the increasingly improbable consequences until they got bored and went in search of tea and cake.  
  
This year had been no different. They’d come home refreshed, and with a clowder of bright and magically sensitive cats who would spend the summer getting to know the castle and grounds before meeting their new mistresses when the autumn term began.  
  
Except that this year there was a problem.  
  
Ada was excited about young Mildred’s potential, and eager to see her when term began again, but the fact remained that having one more student than they had planned to admit meant that they were one cat short, and this year’s best cats had already been snapped up by witching schools across the country.  
  
She and Hecate had talked to a dozen of the breeders they knew before finding one who would admit to having any cats left at all. They made the three-hour broom ride to her home in an unseasonal rain shower. Ada spent most of the journey reminding herself how satisfying it would be when they had the correct number of cats again, and how pleased each of the girls would be to meet her familiar. It didn’t help that much.

* * *

‘This is the last one I have,’ said Magda, when they had entered after a quick drying spell on the doorstep and had some tea. She handed over a glossy black cat with big, expressive eyes.

Ada stroked the cat thoughtfully. The fur sparked a little under her fingers. There certainly was magic there, but not nearly so much as she’d have liked. She’d be an unusually sharp house cat, but as a familiar she’d be less than ideal. Ada spoke a few quiet spells, testing the cat’s reactions. There didn’t seem to be any of the instinctive magical response, the perceptiveness and understanding of her intentions that was necessary, particularly in a young witch’s first cat.

‘She’s marvellous on a broom,’ said Magda enthusiastically, as though sensing Ada’s hesitation.

‘And what about off one?’ asked Hecate sternly.

Magda shrugged, her expression apologetic. ‘That’s all that’s left,’ she said. ‘I doubt you’d find a breeder in the country with a training-quality cat left now.’

Ada’s fingers tingled, but it wasn’t because of the cat in her lap. She peered into the corner of the room, where two eyes blinked slowly at her from the shadows underneath a bookshelf.

‘What about that one?’ she asked.

‘Oh,’ said Magda. ‘You don’t want  _that_  one.’

Ada clicked her tongue and the cat came running, presenting itself to be stroked.

‘... ah,’ said Hecate.

‘You see the problem,’ said Magda.

‘A tabby?’ asked Hecate.

‘A tabby with a strong affinity for the Craft, from what I can tell,’ said Ada.

Curiosity piqued, Hecate came forward to stroke the cat. ‘You’re right, Ada,’ she said, scratching behind the cat’s ears.

‘We’ll take him,’ said Ada.

‘Well now,’ said Magda, ‘I’m not so sure about that. I know he’s tabby, but he’s quick and bright – except for on a broom, unfortunately – and I’ve grown quite fond of him. I thought I might keep for myself, as company for Wisp.’

‘You already have one familiar,’ said Hecate, a little snappishly. ‘What do you need two for?’

‘I don’t see how that’s any of your concern, Hecate Hardbroom,’ said Magda, just as sharply.

‘Now, ladies,’ said Ada, ‘there’s no need for incivility. Magda – is there anything we could offer you in return for this fine figure of a cat?’

Magda frowned. ‘I don’t need money,’ she said. ‘But… let me see… perhaps there _is_ something you can help me with. I’ve been trying for years to get a ticket to the Magic Council’s Autumn Equinox Gathering. If you could see your way to getting me in, I’d be happy to let you take the cat.’

‘I can do it,’ said Ada. ‘But it may take some time.’

Her mind was already racing, deciding what favour she might be able to call in, or who might like the chance to hold a favour over Ada. One name came immediately to mind.

* * *

‘Topaz can meet us,’ Ada said, a couple of mirror calls and a dose of well-timed flattery later, ‘but she’s leaving on a tour of South America in two days’ time, so she has to squeeze us into her schedule. She’ll be at the Cauldron tonight, we’ll need to meet her there for a drink. She’s put us on the guest list for the VIP area.’

Hecate frowned, and Ada thought she paled a little. She wasn’t much of a partier, and the Cauldron – one of the most exclusive witching nightclubs – had a reputation for wildness.

‘I can go alone,’ said Ada. ‘It doesn’t really take both of us.’

‘No,’ said Hecate firmly. ‘What if you need my help? I’m coming with you.’

‘In that case,’ said Ada, ‘we need to decide what to wear. Their dress code is rather strict.’

* * *

Luckily, witching formal was considered acceptable practically everywhere. Hecate emerged from her room early that evening in a floor-length black robe, her best cloak around her shoulders. She had forgone a hat and her hair was loose.

Ada smiled, reaching out to run her fingers through Hecate’s hair.

‘You look beautiful,’ she said.

‘So do you,’ said Hecate under her breath.

Ada had gone with a slightly more up-to-date look – a red dress with a lower neckline than she could get away with during termtime. Her choice had been partly dictated by what she had in her wardrobe that was suitable, but also partly because she hadn’t been able to resist, knowing it would inspire this reaction in Hecate, whose eyes were still lingering appreciatively on her décolletage.

‘Thank you, for agreeing to come with me,’ Ada said.

‘Always,’ said Hecate, meeting her gaze with dark eyes.

They flew there, deposited their brooms in the Cauldron’s well-appointed broom shed, and entered the throng. Ada smiled. It was a long time since she had been part of this world of glamorous, elite witches, but part of her still enjoyed the spectacle. The room was arranged on a dozen different levels, decorated with thousands of candles and opulently furnished. Staff in gold uniforms sold colourful drinks to patrons in dazzling outfits. The musicians playing on a high ledge could barely be heard over the roar of conversation.

Ada piloted them deftly through the crowds, her hand tight around Hecate’s. They had to stop four or five times for her to greet old acquaintances, and a couple of former pupils. At last they reached the VIP area, and the plush booth where Topaz sat like a queen in her audience chamber.

‘Topaz!’ said Ada. ‘It’s wonderful to see you! This is Hecate. Hecate, dearest, this is Topaz.’

Hecate’s greeting was curter than usual, and once it had been made she stood in stony silence, not participating in the introductory small talk, until Ada spotted the problem. The noise of the music and chatter was intense. She cast a sound dampening bubble around the three of them and the music died down. Hecate’s shoulders came down from around her ears.

‘Ada, darling, you know I’d do anything for you,’ Topaz was saying. ‘But you know, I can’t just do _anything_ for you. I need to take care of myself too.’

‘Perhaps we can help each other?’ Ada suggested, her heart sinking a little at Topaz’s reluctance. ‘There must be something we can assist you with?’

Topaz thought about it, toying with the stirrer in her drink. ‘Well…’ she said, ‘there is a spell I’ve been absolutely dying to try. But I can’t get hold of the book it’s in for love nor money. It’s the Alta Misteria Codex. I don’t suppose you can help?’

Ada’s heart sank further. The Alta Misteria Codex was incredibly rare, and the only copies known to exist were in private collections and never saw the light of day. Any witch would have given her best hat just to get a glimpse of the cover.

‘We can get it,’ said Hecate.

Ada looked at her. Her mouth was set in a determined line.

Topaz brightened. ‘Really?’

‘Perhaps only to borrow, but long enough that you could copy the spell.’

‘Hmmm. Well, I suppose that would do.’

‘Good,’ said Hecate.

She sat quietly while Ada wrapped up the conversation without unseemly haste. It was clear she was thinking hard. Ada had no idea where she planned to get the book, or even if she actually could. Perhaps she was feeling as desperate as Ada and had promised based on nothing more than hope. Ada had been close to doing the same herself.

‘We’re never going to get this damn cat,’ Ada lamented when they emerged from the club into the fresh night air.

Hecate took Ada’s hand and brought it up to kiss it. ‘We’ll get it,’ she said. ‘Don’t lose heart, Ada. I think I might know where we can find a copy of the Alta Misteria Codex.’

‘And then who knows what we’ll have to do next? This is going to take all summer.’

‘And it will be worth it,’ Hecate reminded her. ‘Come on.’

They climbed back on their brooms and took off. The night was still and warm, and above them the stars seemed brighter than usual.

‘You were the most beautiful witch in that room tonight, by far,’ said Hecate as they flew side by side. ‘I’m glad it’s you I’m going home with.’

The night was so warm, the stars were so bright.

‘Perhaps there’s no need to go home right away,’ said Ada, pointing downward. ‘That looks like a lovely place to sit for a while.’

Beneath them was a grassy hilltop, far away from anything or anyone – the perfect spot for a little stargazing. They flew downward, and Hecate spread her cloak on the ground so that they could lie back and look at the sky.

After a while, they turned away from the stars and towards each other.

* * *

The next morning - after a very late flight home - they followed Hecate's most promising lead in hopes of obtaining the spell Topaz had asked for. The journey to Aveline’s workshop was a little complicated.

‘It’s technically in another dimension,’ Hecate explained, leading Ada confidently through first a narrow tunnel on the side of a mountain, then a stone labyrinth, then, bizarrely, a walled garden with bright blue sky high above, and then through a door that stood alone in the middle of the grass, which led to a corridor and a further few doors before they reached their destination.

At last they emerged into what looked like a perfectly ordinary potions workshop, and Hecate greeted the petite, scruffy witch inside with about as much evident friendliness as Ada had ever seen Hecate show to a witch who wasn’t her. She quickly outlined their dilemma and what they needed with none of the small talk preamble that had been necessary with Topaz.

‘Because you’re one of my best customers,’ said Aveline, ‘I may be prepared to lend you the book so that you can copy the necessary spell from it. I trust that will be sufficient?’

‘Yes, thank you, that would be wonderful!’ said Ada.

‘However,’ Aveline continued, ‘since it is something of an imposition, I will require something in return.’

‘Of course,’ Hecate said. ‘We had expected as much.’

‘Let me check my supplies,’ said Aveline, ‘and decide what you might be able to do for me.’

While she went to the back room, Hecate inspected the rows of potions ingredients and ready-made potions arranged neatly on the shelves with what looked to Ada’s experienced eye like barely concealed glee.

‘I love it here,’ she told Ada, as she pulled out a drawer of shark’s teeth and examined them. ‘Aveline organises her ingredients so beautifully. My supply cupboard is modelled after her system. I think this might be one of my favourite places in the world, not including home.’

Ada had known that Hecate preferred to get her supplies here – at least those that she couldn’t gather herself – but seeing her here was something else. She was like a child in a sweet shop, eyes big, wanting to take it all home.

‘Hecate!’ she said. ‘I had no idea!’

Hecate raised a teasing eyebrow. ‘It’s nice to know that I can still surprise you occasionally,’ she said.

* * *

‘This cat had better be worth it,’ Hecate said dryly.

The two of them were sitting side by side at one of the benches in the potions lab. To Ada’s left was a small pile of carefully peeled mandrake root. To Hecate’s right was a much larger pile of tough, knobbly unpeeled roots. Ada and Hecate were each midway through peeling one.

‘Whoever heard of hand-peeling mandrake?’ Hecate asked, for the third time that morning.

‘You were the one who said she was such a marvellous potion maker,’ Ada said mildly. ‘If she says hand-peeled is more effective, perhaps she’s right. She did say that peeling by magic makes for a more temperamental potion.’

‘Not when I do it,’ Hecate sniffed.

‘Regardless,’ said Ada, ‘this is what we must do, if she’s going to give us the book.’

‘I could do it all by magic in five minutes flat,’ said Hecate mutinously. ‘If I laid an obscuring spell first, she wouldn’t even know the difference.’

‘We’re getting this cat honestly or not at all,’ said Ada.

Hecate looked at her, a ghost of a smile on her lips. ‘Don’t mind me,’ she said. ‘I’m just letting off steam.’

‘I just… it’s so important, a witch’s first cat,’ said Ada. ‘I don’t want any of our girls to feel that their cat doesn’t meet their needs. I don’t want to let any of them down before they’ve even started.’

Hecate looked fondly at her. ‘Ada, you could never let them down. Look at how hard you’re working to make this happen. We’re going to get this cat. Everything’s going to be fine.’

‘Race you to peel twenty roots,’ said Ada. ‘Ready, set…’

But Hecate had already started to peel, her fingers a blur. 

* * *

By the time they had peeled the final mandrake root and sent the whole lot back to Aveline, the sun was setting and Ada’s shoulders were aching from hunching over her work all day. She stood up, and several things quietly went pop.

‘Oof,’ she said, ‘it’s been a while since I’ve done that much physical work in a day. Hecate, aren’t you aching?’  
  
‘I’m all right,’ said Hecate.  
  
‘How?’  
  
‘It’s because I have excellent posture,’ she said primly.  
  
Ada snorted, and Hecate’s answering smile almost showed her teeth.  
  
‘Actually, I think I’m just used to it,’ Hecate said. ‘I’m bent over potions most days of the week. Here, let me transfer us upstairs and I’ll help you with that.’  
  
Up in Ada’s room, Hecate lit the candles with a flick of her fingers, summoned soft music from the air, and drew warmth into her hands. Ada undressed to her chemise, and sighed with relief the instant Hecate’s hands touched her skin. Just the tender firmness of her touch was a comfort. Hecate’s hands made their steady way across her shoulders and down her spine, soothing, drawing away the ache and leaving behind soft heat. Ada closed her eyes and sank into the feeling.

Gradually the knots in her muscles loosened, the pain faded away, and she let go, letting the motion of Hecate’s hands be her only anchor. She’d been worried about something, but now it no longer seemed important what it had been. Only Hecate’s strong, gentle fingers mattered, only this pleasantly dreamy sensation.  
  
Just when Ada felt about ready to melt, Hecate kissed the place where her neck met her shoulder, so lightly that it was barely a kiss at all.  
  
‘Mmmmm,’ said Ada, encouragingly.  
  
Another kiss followed at the same spot, this one more decisive. Then another, a little further up her neck. Hecate’s hand snaked around Ada’s waist to draw her close, and the fabric of the dress she was still wearing pressed against Ada’s bare shoulders. Ada sighed. Something about that sensation was unutterably arousing.   
  
Hecate was still scattering soft kisses, setting the agonisingly slow pace she knew drove Ada wild. It was working, almost too well. Running out of patience, Ada twisted to lower Hecate to the bed, and rolled to straddle her. She looked down for a moment at Hecate, who wore an expression that hovered between amusement and pure lust. And then she dived to kiss her.

* * *

They awoke late the next morning, and took their time getting the day started. By the time they had eaten a leisurely breakfast in bed, bathed and dressed, the hand-peeled mandrake root they had sent by broom courier to Aveline the night before had been safely received, and the precious book had been sent back by return, with the nervous-looking courier bearing strict instructions that they were to copy the spell and send her back with it as soon as possible.

Ada watched as Hecate copied out the spell twice to be sure – she had the most elegant handwriting, it was a pleasure to observe – and once it was done they sent the book back, and sent one copy of the spell on to Topaz. That day they worked on timetables for the next term, and by evening Topaz had replied promising that Magda’s coveted invitation to the Autumn Equinox Gathering would be arranged with all haste.

‘We did it,’ said Ada. ‘We actually did it.’

‘I’m not sure I’ll believe it until the cat’s in the castle,’ said Hecate.

* * *

The tabby cat refused to get on the back of Ada’s broom.

‘I warned you,’ said Magda cheerfully, watching the cat dig its claws into the floor.

In the end Ada turned her cardigan into a sort of sling, and carried the cat close to her chest. He quivered for the whole journey.

‘Oh dear,’ said Ada, when they landed at last, several hours later, back at the school. ‘I hope he gets the hang of it.’

‘I’m sure he’ll improve with a little practice,’ said Hecate.

They took the cat to the Cat Room, fed him, and set him loose to explore. Then they stood in the doorway, watching him investigating the cushions and corners and getting acquainted with the other cats.

‘Well, his mistress won’t have any trouble telling him apart from the others,’ Hecate said.

‘He’s distinctive,’ said Ada. ‘That can be no bad thing.’

She gazed for a moment at all of the cats. It made her heart sing to think that, in a few weeks, all of them would be working with their new mistresses, helping them to begin their journeys as witches.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I think we’ve done our duty to our students. I think perhaps it’s time to take a day or two for ourselves, don’t you?’

Hecate smiled. ‘I couldn’t agree more.’


End file.
